Okay folks, I am really really tired. Been racking my brain for a "suitable topic" and didn't want to go near the upcoming election, which, by the way, is all anyone seems to be talking about. Thought about doing a linguistical page on the verb "to pull" but that will have to wait. Too much research, not enough time. Considered posting an official Thanksgiving page- one word- b-o-r-i-n-g............. So, I decided to tackle something that has plagued my curiosity for many years, but for which I do not have a clear cut answer. Why the howdy heck do dudes wear their shorts/pants so big and so low?????????? It ain't Halloween anymore!

My first close up and personal example of this was several years ago, when I noticed the pubescent neighbor boy starting to wear his school shorts ever lower, seemingly more so each day. To add to the mystique, he began sporting brown courderouy slippers for footwear and a buzz cut. It was nicely accessorized by his ipod. I couldn't bring myself to ask him, but one day, I had to mention it to his mom. She shrugged and said that she and her husband had fought the good fight for over a year to no avail. They finally agreed to let him "win" this one, and show the world his boxers, if that's what floated his boat.

We carpooled to school, and I never missed a chance to mention to my boys that I would never allow them to wear their shorts in such a disgusting manner. At first I thought the neighbor boy just had a really long back and short legs! My boys promised they would never do it.

Needless to say, only one kept their promise. In his Junior year, I noticed that the shirts kept on getting bigger and the sorts baggier and baggier on the other one. Since he is a small framed guy, the shorts would drop dangerously low. One unexpected belch and they could end up around his ankles.

This irked me to no end. Why- I asked him. Was it for comfort? I imagined the sensation of a waist band digging into the center of my rump, and likened the sensation to somthing akin to having a knat fly into my eye. Not really painful, but just really really annoying. How could anyone want to feel this way? I flat out asked him why he was doing this. He of course denied that he was doing anything a 'tall odd. He was merely following the fashion trend. I didn't really have a good argument for that one, but I never missed a chance to sneak up behind him and pull his shirt up just to see how low the shorts really were! This only served to infuriate him. Sometimes, the waist band would actually be below the butt entirely. The pockets would be flat as a sheet of paper resting against slender thighs, not at all how the garment was intended to be worn. I tried everything to get him to stop, but it didn't work. The cool dudes did this, and he was one cool dude.

In desperation, I took digital photos and showed him how he looked from the back side. Didn't work. I pointed out every Joe Dick and Harry on the road dressed this way and mocked them. Didn't work.I paid my 12 year old daughter's friends to heckle him. Useless. I begged and pleaded. with him not to do this, but it all fell on deaf ears. So he wears his shorts low and I make snide comments.

I decided to do a brief bit of research and was really lucky to find this on Snopes. Fascinating stuff. I hope I can get him to read it, so he can at least be educated about the origin of his fashion statement.

We were talking about how the kids are wearing the pants way down on their body with the crotch at their knees. One guy said he was told that this started in prison with the gay prisoner doing that to show that they are ready for a sexual relationship with whoever is interested.

[Collected on the Internet, 2003]

A friend told me recently that the "gang" style of baggy pants showing your underwear (called "jailin") was originally a prison code signifying that the man wearing them was willing to be, er, the "girlfriend" of some other man/men.

Origins: Sagging, the fashion of wearing pants with their waistbands around the hips (or lower) rather than snugged to the Kriss Kross midriff, has been and continues to be a controversial style of dress. Although this sartorial fad is overwhelmingly favored by young males, it is not limited to them  young women have at times likewise indulged in the urge to sag.

The practice, which did begin in prisons, worked its way from the hoosegow into hip hop culture. It was adopted by a variety of rap artists, such as Ice-T and Too Short, which enhanced its perceived tough-guy cachet. Sagging can even be taken a step further by wearing the droopy breeches backwards. (Totally Krossed Out, the 1992 debut album of Kriss Kross, shows the pair of 13-year-old rappers doing this.) By 1995 the style had seeped into mainstream teen culture  one no longer needed to be a wannabe "gangsta" to sling 'em low.

Pants worn this way are kept up by constant hitching, an act that becomes an integral part of the walking style of the wearer.

While sagging did gain its start in the U.S. prison system, it was not a clothes-wearing style authored by imprisoned homosexuals intent upon advertising their interest in casual flings. Sagging pants became the behind-the-bars thing thanks to ill-fitting prison-issue garb: some of those incarcerated were provided with clothing a few sizes too large. That oversizing, coupled with the lack of belts in the big house, led to a great number of jailbirds whose pants were falling off their arses. (Belts are not permitted in most correctional facilities because all too often the lifeless bodies of their inmate owners have been found hanging from them.)

Sagging has another rumored origin (also false), one less well-traveled than the "gay inmates advertising for sex" postulation:
[Collected on the Internet, 2003]

What's the origin of Gang-banger pants? You know, worn really low and baggy? Before they became a fashion statement, and/or MADE that way by assorted clothing companies, I heard it originated in a prison: An inmate was on suicide watch and couldn't have his belt, which the other inmates were either outraged by or thought was ridiculous given the inmate in question. So they started wearing theirs really low in protest/solidarity. Anyway, that's what I heard.
Another discredited theory says ghetto hoodlums adopted the fashion of wearing their pants in the sagging style to better conceal weapons from rival gang members and police. While it is true a gun or knife can be effectively stashed out of sight in droopy pants, it can also be hidden in more form-fitting bottoms, especially when the pants-wearer tops his cache with an untucked sports jersey, pullover, or sweatshirt.

The most intriguing aspect of the "trolling for gay sex" rumor lies not in its veracity, but in its acceptance as gospel by those who encounter it and who are then moved to pass it along to others. While the combination of two facts (homosexuality in prison and falling-down pants worn by inmates) accounts for the origin of the belief that links the one to the other, its spread is attributable to the prevailing dislike of the fashion. Those who choose to wear their pants this way cite comfort as their motive and so find justification for this imitation of rap stars and felons, two groups perceived as toughly self-sufficient and therefore worthy of emulation; those who do not follow this fashion see only the crotches of jeans hanging at or above the knee, hobbling their wearers in a goofy manner. (One can walk in sagging pants. But one can't run in them.)

The rumor becomes a way of passing along one group's disdain for another's sartorial practice. Communicating that the saggers are unwittingly offering their backsides to all takers when they think they are mimicking admired rappers and identifying with tough guys no sensible person would mess with becomes a way of saying "The joke is really on them." This same sense of surreptitious delight over being in on a prank someone looked down upon is unknowingly playing on himself fuels another urban legend that involves medallions flaunted by society matrons or Chinese character-emblazoned sweaters proudly worn by their knitters and even some of the "misunderstood souvenir" tales told about globe-trotting tourists.

While sagging is embraced by a number of young people, it is far removed from being the subject of widespread approval outside that demographic. Various communities have attempted to ban this form of fashion statement. In February 2005, for example, the Virginia House of Delegates passed the so-called droopy drawers bill, legislation that would have imposed a $50 fine on people who wore their pants so that their underwear was visible in a "lewd or indecent manner." That bill was killed by a senate committee two days later. In May 2004, Louisiana lawmakers attempted to say no to plumber's crack by passing House Bill 1626, legislation that would have made it a crime to wear clothing in public that "intentionally exposes undergarments or intentionally exposes any portion of the pubic hair, cleft of the buttocks or genitals." That bill was also rejected by the state's senate.

Barbara "bum steered" Mikkelson

Last updated: 15 October 2005

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/risque/homosex/sagging.asp

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road... ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz

SARAH PALIN: BECAUSE, PRAISE JESUS, I WAS GONNA SHOOT HIS SORRY LIBERAL ASS OFF FOR BLOCKING MY VIEW OF RUSSIA!

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We
just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of crossing?

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmers Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the other side. Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay, too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heartwarming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one ?

November 3, 2008

Next Post date: December 1, 2008

Famous Quotes Related To Thanksgiving

We have presented a collection of some of the quotations of famous literary men around the world related to thanksgiving. This collection also includes witty comments, sayings, quotes and proverbs that are worth reading on this Thanksgiving Day and putting them on your desk and walls would certainly attract the attention of the intellectuals and add to the overall mood of the holiday feast.

* Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.
- William Shakespeare
* Heap high the board with plenteous cheer and gather to the feast, And toast the sturdy Pilgrim band whose courage never ceased.
- Alice W. Brotherton
* We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
- Ritual Chant
* What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?
- Erma Bombeck
* Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.
- Estonian proverb
* Got no checkbooks, got no banks.
Still I'd like to express my thanks -
I got the sun in the mornin' and the moon at night.
- Irving Berlin
* The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies;
But let the thankful heart sweep through the day
And as the magnet finds the iron,
So it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!
- Henry Ward Beecher
* Do not get tired of doing what is good.
Don't get discouraged and give up,
For we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.
- Galatians 6:9
* Best of all is it to preserve everything
In a pure, still heart,
And let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving
And for every breath a song.
- Konrad von Gesner
* An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.
- Irv Kupcinet
* Once, when my feet were bare, And I had not the means of obtaining shoes
I came to the chief of Kufah
In a state of much dejection,
And saw there a man who had no feet.
I returned thanks to God
And acknowledged his mercies,
And endured my want of shoes with patience.
- Sadi, The Gulistan
* The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.
- H.W. Westermayer
* On Thanksgiving Day, we acknowledge our dependence.
- William Jennings Bryan
* Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.
- W T Purkiser
* Thank God every day when you get up that you have something to do that day which must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues, which the idle will never know.
- Basil Carpenter

***

Crosby Stills Nash Young - Teach Your Children Lyrics
Album:

You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.

Counter Melody To Above Verse:
Can you hear and do you care and
Cant you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.

Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

Click on the picture to view this month's mystery feature.

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